CHENNAI: Spinners will be key in the mouth-watering contest between New Zealand and Afghanistan under the blue sky at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.
Spinners Rashid Khan and Mitchell Santner — captains of Afghanistan and New Zealand respectively — spoke on their chances to win this tie with conditions in mind.
Both the teams are in a challenging group alongside 2024 finalists South Africa, Canada and UAE. With two of the stronger teams facing early in the group stage, a win here would strengthen their chances of qualifying to the Super 8s. Khan assessed the conditions in Chepauk and spoke on the team's chances on Saturday.
In 2024, the team went all the way to the semifinals by beating Australia. This time, they will be keen to go all the way. For that, Khan, along with mystery spinner Noor Ahmad will be key.
"Well, I think we do have good spinners, but still you have to bowl well and you have to bowl in the right area and definitely they New Zealand have a good batting line-up. You have to think about yourself, what you can do best on the day, what is your best game and what you can do the better on this condition," said Rashid Khan.
"Wicket looks good, I think it looks good to bat on, but still the experience you have of playing a lot in IPL in here, I think you have to use that experience here and really you can bowl the best to the better, so it's going to be a good game," he added.
He also spoke about the calibre of opponents in Group D.
"Well, in World Cup that's where it goes. You don't get the things easily, it's always very tough and that's the beauty of T20 cricket, you hardly get the easy things. You have to pass through the tough lines to achieve something bigger and I feel like that's something which is a challenge for us. If you want to achieve bigger things, you have to go through tough routes," added the star-spinner.
When quizzed whether Afghanistan had the ability to march to the final and perhaps win the trophy, Rashid Khan was very articulate in his reply. "Well, before going to 2024 World Cup, we haven't set the target for ourselves, the semi-final target. The target was to play good cricket, good ground application, what we can do to make things harder for the opposition team and what are the areas we need to improve where we can beat the opposition side. So, I feel like those are the areas we are focusing on for this World Cup as well," explained the 27-year old. "We don't really set the target for ourselves. I don't mind where we finish, but as long as the energy remains on top in the ground, the effort remains on top and in the body language. I feel like that's probably more important than winning and losing the game. So, as a team, that's the mindset. We go against any opposition, put that 200% effort and then we see the result," he added. Apart from the spinning duo, they have Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb Ur Rahman. With the bat, Rahmanullah Gurbaz is expected to fire, after he starred in the 2024 edition, ending as the highest run scorer (281).
"We have tough oppositions, but still you have to keep that belief in yourself and keep pushing yourself in the ground. As we have done in the 2024 World Cup, we have beaten big teams and I think the confidence is there, but it's just about making sure we do the right thing at the right time and more importantly we enjoy cricket." added the star spinner.
Kiwis look for improved show
The Kiwis toured co-hosts and defending champions India last month to prepare for the World Cup and lost 1-4. Although they won against USA in the warm-up match, the margin in which they won (seven runs) considering their calibre may not be encouraging. The Black Caps would require their key players Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway and Glenn Phillips to come to the fore in this key match.
Mitchell Santner gave his assessement of the conditions.
"It's nice to be back, that's for sure. Spent a lot of time here (and) just had a good talk with the ground staff. I think we have seen the pitch here has changed a little bit over time. During my time with Chennai Super Kings (in the IPL) for the first few years, it was really slow, which was very nice for a spinner. But the last couple of years, it's been nice and flat," Santner said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday.
"So, again, for us, it's seeing what it looks like tomorrow (Sunday). Yeah, but I think it'll be pretty good wickets. During IPL it had a little more grass on it. So, I think, whatever, it just looks like a pretty good wicket. So, you know, there will be a bit of both for us (pace and spin)," he added.
He said all 15 players available for selection and wished not to repeat the mistakes from the India T20 series.
"Yeah, I think, again, we were challenged with the ball, especially at the start. You know, the way Kishan, Sanju did a little bit as well, but obviously Abhishek, you know, the way they came out in the power play, so I think that's going to be a theme throughout this World Cup. As teams, you know, if you get off to a flyer in the power play, you're going to put yourself in a pretty good position. So I think on the flip side of the ball, it's how can you take two, three wickets early and really slow teams down." insisted Santner, stressing the need to not leak runs in the powerplay.